


Tensions

by pissard



Category: Zombieland (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-06 06:58:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pissard/pseuds/pissard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically details the ups and downs of their merry band of misfits as Tallahassee and Columbus' relationship takes a new turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the beginning (pt 1)

The girls had gone off to find someplace that "wasn't outside" to sleep. Tallahassee had found the sentiment, like most sentiments, to be both futile and ridiculous.

"Pussies," he accused, leaning against the door of the van.

"Well," Columbus said slowly, "yeah." It earned him a glare.

Conversation, oddly enough, didn't go much beyond this. There could be a number of reasons behind this. Columbus knew his reasons. His mind was stuck on how, despite all that happened and all the promise he had practically gotten, there had not been one kiss or even a _look_ between him and Wichita. It wasn't so much that they didn't want to but, as it would seem lately, they'd been so precariously on the move so much that there had been no time. Not to mention there was little to no privacy. It was amazing that between them, the only people left in all of America and possibly the whole fucking planet, they still couldn't get any privacy. And, yeah, they had a thirteen year old with them but Tallahassee somehow managed to be the biggest cockblock of them all. Whether it was on purpose was debatable but the accuracy with which the man could manage appear at just the right moment to break a moment (of any kind) was astounding.

So, yeah, Columbus' thoughts were pretty harried at the moment and conversation wasn't exactly flowing forth from the fountain head. Whatever was keeping Tallahassee's mouth shut was beyond him, though, but he was still determined to send surreptitious glances just to see if he could figure it out. Making out the man's expression was hard in the dimming light. Around them the sun was setting. They were somewhere in the Rocky mountains, from what Columbus understood from maps, and the sun was bouncing its fiery red rays haphazardly all across the jagged landscape. Tallahassee's face had fallen into shadow both from mountain and from the brim of his hat. He was leaning back against the van door still, one foot bent at the knee to sit against the car door.

Now that the sun was already setting, he couldn't help but wonder when they'd be tucking in for the night. Down the mountain the hotel Wichita and Little Rock had decided to risk was barely visible now in the shadow of the mountain. He honestly didn't feel like walking all that way to join them so he turned to Tallahassee expectantly and was met with more silence.

"Sleep yet or what?" he ventured, tucking his hands into his pockets. These jeans were new; they had risked a shopping spree at a mall on their way out of California. While it had gotten them nearly eaten, the haul had been worth it. The jeans were grey, something new for him, and a little tight but they had that 'distressed' look that had been all the rage until everyone turned crazy cannibals.

Tallahassee finally did seem to wake up from whatever was wrong with him and push away from the car. "Yeah, boy, do whatever y'want," he snapped with a careless, dismissive wave of his hand. Columbus was used to Tallahassee's attitude but this seemed a little dejected in the face of the usual shit he had to deal with so he supposed that what he was feeling was concern. He frowned and shuffled his feet, following the man around the hood of the van. Tallahassee abruptly stopped and Columbus, of course, ran into the man's broad back.

"Oh, jeez," Columbus mumbled. Tallahassee rounded on him, glare at the ready. "Sorry, it's just you're acting…" he searched for the right word, "weird." It really wasn't right because it earned him a harsher glare.

"I ain't acting nothing," was the nearly unintelligible reply and Columbus really knew there was something wrong if the man was dissolving into such language. Tallahassee didn't move away like he had before, though, and instead crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Columbus with the same glare. If it was a step up or down, Columbus had no clue.

"I didn't mean anything by it," he said, or more of mumbled, ducking his head slightly. "It's just, I dunno, usually you're more energetic than this. Something must be bugging you." In previous cases of having seen such behavior, Columbus could have chalked it up to Tallahassee's "Twinkie Jonesin'," as it was phrased, but in this instance Columbus had no idea what it was that was missing now.

"What're you, worried or something?" Tallahassee asks but more of accuses. His expression is something like disdain and only something like it because disdain is a too complicated expression for Tallahassee anyway. "I'm jus' tired is all and I don't need you followin' me around trying to be whiney at me."

Columbus' schools his features to dry and bland which gets him an exasperated explosion of breath from Tallahassee. It amazed him how much easier it was to deal with Tallahassee when there were zombies around. At least then, all the man's frustrations could be exerted elsewhere than on Columbus. This was not one of those times (Columbus was thankful for this despite because he was sure if a zombie showed its ugly mug right now he'd turn the gun on himself soon after, it was just one of those days) and Tallahassee was as hard to deal with as ever. They were still having their macho (not on his part, mind you) staring contest that was getting them literally no where.

"If you're tired," Columbus said just after he blinked and lost the contest, much to Tallahassee's obvious smug satisfaction. "Why don't you sleep and I'll keep first watch?" There's blankets spread out in the back of the van, where they've been catching Zs for the past few weeks. It absolutely sucks and there's a crick in his shoulder that Columbus is not sure he'll ever be rid of until he sleeps on a real bed again, whenever that will be.

His suggestion, however brilliant, is met with little enthusiasm. "That's what I was fixin' to do until you come up on me," is the growled reply. Tallahassee is more exasperated than angry now, which is a step up. Exasperated can lead to eventual, if frustrated, chuckling and then somehow involving Columbus getting punched (usually not hard). After that, Tallahassee's mood instantly improves and Columbus does, yes, feel used. "Why were you following me, huh? There something you wanted?"

Now Tallahassee is crowding Columbus and this is something a little new. Sure, his space has been invaded by this man on a few occasions but never in one like this. It's weird and Columbus has to repress the urge to step back, knowing that's just the point of this type of intimidation. He looks straight back up at Tallahassee, expression becoming as dry as he can manage. "I was concerned," he said, crossing his own arms and as he does so, brushes against Tallahassee.

The last thing he expected was for Tallahassee to grab his face in one hand and squeeze his cheeks. He blinks, absolutely startled and quickly reaches up to grab Tallahassee's wrist to keep this from escalating. Tallahassee still doesn't look angry but not much more exasperated either, more curious. He squeezes Columbus' cheeks between his fingers and thumb experimentally, earning a squeak from the younger man.

"Whatredoofin?" Columbus tries between the squishing of his cheeks. His tongue is nearly immobile like this and his cheeks are turning sort of numb under the pressure. Tallahassee's hands feel rough and foreign on his cheeks, making goose bumps scatter across his forearms. "Lemmego!"

For a second, it doesn't seem like Tallahassee will let him go but he does. His grip relaxes but his hand doesn't leave Columbus' face and instead slips around the back of his head, dragging through the brown curls before taking hold on the back of Columbus' neck. There isn't much time for Columbus to really fully comprehend this before he's being reeled in and Tallahassee is pressing their foreheads together. Tallahassee's blue eyes are bright and so very close and Columbus can feel their breath mixing between them. In the back of his mind he's thinking back to the moment between himself and Wichita. It was similar to this, the two of them suddenly close and sharing the same air, staring into each other's eyes. One difference that's obvious here, between Columbus and Tallahassee, is how much more intense it is. This is still a battle between men but still, under the surface cloying and dark, there's something else.

Columbus' stomach twists as he is sure he realizes what it is but Tallahassee, again, doesn't give him time to think about that before the fingers on the nape of his neck are biting into his skin. "You better think about this, kid, before you make any decisions," Tallahassee wisely advises and Columbus can feel his eyebrows rise slightly on his forehead. "Because I am not gonna take it like Wichita." He's not sure what that's supposed to mean but Tallahassee is already pulling away and cool air is rushing, invading between them.

He reaches out after, his hand landing on a hard pec and Tallahassee freezes, eyes intent on Columbus. It's times like these, between any of the rag-tag team of misfits, that Columbus misses the days of his loner-hood, when he didn't have to feel awkward around people because there were no people. He definitely feels awkward now but he feels a whole lot more too. Tallahassee can probably see it, in many different but no less obvious signs about his person (and body), and smirks crookedly in response. Words fail them both, or Columbus anyway, and Tallahassee takes his arm by the scruff of his sleeve.

"C'mon, boy," is the soft drawl he gets as he's led around the back of the van. The doors click open under his hand and he's shoved, literally shoved, down onto the unforgiving metal floor of the van. The blankets do no more than perpetuate his fall, sliding him further across the floor. "We still have to do watch after."


	2. the beginning (pt 2)

Whenever Columbus would imagine having sex in zombieland, it never really went like this. It never really involved guys either, or him being pressed back into the hard unforgiving floor of a Ford van in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Life, as he had come to see it, was unpredictable. Trying to control it had pretty much landed him here, underneath Tallahassee having his neck bitten and licked. He wondered where the kissing was before—wait, here it comes just after his shirt is nearly ripped off him. Tallahassee kisses like he does everything: hard, fast and determined. It feels good, though; so much different than the few fleeting kisses he's had with Wichita. Tallahassee's stubble burns as it drags across his cheeks and his lips are chapped but the sensation isn't unpleasant.

He's having a hard time realizing a lot of things beyond Tallahassee's mouth before their chests are pushed together again (when had Tallahassee lost his shirt?) and suddenly he's got a wicked case of vertigo as he's lifted up and into Tallahassee's lap. "As much as I'd love to fuck the stupid outta ya," Tallahassee said against his collarbone, each snag of enamel on skin causing Columbus to shudder. "You're not worth the risk of any disease."

Columbus wanted to beg and tell Tallahassee how very unlikely it is that he has any sort of disease, but doesn't. He laughed instead and tried, with success, experimentally rolling his hips into Tallahassee's beneath him. It earns him a drawn out groan. "The state of our world," his voice is terribly breathless and his cheeks go hot in response. "And you're worried about herpes?"

"I'm not ignorant," Tallahassee replied with a smirk. In this brief chat between them, Columbus realized another thing that he hadn't before. (and really, did he like having his neck bitten and licked that much? So much that he lost all thought process? Yeesh…) He didn't have his jeans on (or his underwear!) anymore and he discovered them in a crumpled heap over Tallahassee's shoulder. Tallahassee still had jeans on, though, and the rough material of them brushed against the back of his thighs and against his ass. The sensation was weird, like he'd worn his jeans inside out.

Anymore thought on the subject went immediately south, literally, when Tallahassee seemed done with whatever he had been doing (unbuttoning his fly, you fool, pay attention to these things). He took one broad, warm hand and grabbed Columbus from where he stood, proudly mind you, erect between them. Columbus moaned, anything but proud in the sound, and his hips jerked into the hand, the moan stuttering when the calluses on that hand actually really felt wonderful so who the fuck ever thought they were a bad thing? His eyes rolled back in his head and he gripped at Tallahassee's shoulders hard to make sure he didn't go toppling backward.

While he hasn't ever had some sort of staple to go buy, Columbus is sure that he should have more thought process than this. Perhaps it attests something to Tallahassee's skill but Columbus thinks it's just that he's never really done this before and maybe actually a mixture of both. However, he still, somewhere in his endorphin addled brain, feels bad that he isn't actually doing anything for Tallahassee besides letting him practice some wicked wrist motion. He manages with great difficulty to wrench a hand off of Tallahassee's shoulder and dragged it down that rather well defined chest, to the helpfully already open fly. It's a little scary how easy it is just to slip his hand in there and take the large (he is really glad he hadn't begged for the fucking thing a bit right now) cock in hand and slip it out. Tallahassee gasps and his own hand on Columbus' dick stutters a bit, which actually feels good too.

Then Tallahassee had this brilliant idea, adjusting his hand so it gripped both their dicks (and Columbus' hand in the middle) tight and hot together and then he started pulling. It was amazing and Columbus' couldn't help the gasps or moans falling from his lips. Tallahassee kissed him again, licking his way into Columbus' mouth and then slowly thrusting his tongue in and out in rhythm with their hands. Coming seemed like the most obvious course of action so he did, messily between them, hips jerking.

Whatever happened after that, Columbus couldn't be sure because the world went black. When he regained something resembling consciousness he was sprawled in the back of the van, still, feeling sticky and sore. He struggled upright to find Tallahassee nowhere in sight and his clothes in a haphazard pile beside him. Clearly, he'd been out for a while. He sighed, grimacing down at the mess on his chest. They had wetnaps around her somewhere though and he struggled again up onto his knees to crawl around looking for them. The hand on his ass startled him much to Tallahassee's obvious amusement.

"You're finally awake," the man drawled from the front seat, looking absolutely untouched in contrast to Columbus' own messy state.

"How long was I out?" Columbus can hardly manage to ask that because Tallahassee's got a look in his eye that's making his insides clench again and he hurriedly sit down on his haunches just so those eyes couldn't linger on his ass any longer.

"About four hours, thereabout," Tallahassee replied, his smirk widening before he turned back around to sit right in the seat. "Sorry about the mess on ya, but you understand right?" Another look was sent in his direction. "Was a little pissed ya passed out on me. Wetnaps are under the seat, kid."

While he vehemently vowed that this would never happen between them again, half under the passenger seat of the van as he searched for the baby-wipes he knew, deep down that it wasn't true.


	3. part 3

"You're an idiot," Wichita comments offhandedly, point accentuated by the click and slide of her rifle as she loads another round into the chamber. "I mean, really, what you were thinking." She aims, shoots, and kills a zombie all in one smooth motion. Columbus unconsciously raises his pistol and shoots the downed zombie again.  
"Uh," is all he can manage before glancing down at Little Rock between them, looking for some kind of clarification. The thirteen year old meets his gaze coolly from where she's sitting crouched under the window and is no help whatsoever. Outside Tallahassee's victorious cries are growing louder and closer. "I think we skipped the whole conversation part of the conversation."

Wichita spares him an annoyed glance before she lowers her rifle, apparently satisfied with leaving the few dregs of the hoard they'd been fighting to Tallahassee. "Never mind," she sighs like he's done something wrong. Columbus is pretty sure he hasn't done a thing wrong because he saved her from the zombie with a machete stuck in its shoulder and the fat bitch that had tried to pull her hair.

Today had been one of their more stressful days. Things had quieted down as they'd traveled through the Rockies, a little lost without a destination more of 'maybe let's go around Denver?' They did manage to get around Denver, just that morning, but a quick pit stop at a gas station turned out to be a bad decision.

Either the zombies were getting smarter or they were just being sloppy (Columbus thinks it's a little of both, honestly) because before they knew it zombies were everywhere. Maybe the things had seen them coming down the road or something but there had to of been at least fifty or more. Tallahassee had, naturally, handled it without complaint. He took what weaponry he deemed necessary and ran off in one direction while leaving the three of them to fend for themselves.

While an independent man if there ever was one, Tallahassee rarely just ran off without them. Sure, the man boasted about how little help they were and how they slowed him down but he never flat out left them. Columbus had his ideas as to why. Tallahassee had been rather emotionally distant since their little…bonding? Oh God, no. There wasn't an appropriate word for it to make it seem nice without also making it creepy.

Anyway, he'd been kind of a jerk since then and it was all Columbus' fault. The 'morning after' (if you could call it that, it was more of 'when they were finally done with watch') he'd finally gotten up the courage to tell Tallahassee that the whole thing had been a mistake. He, mistakenly, assumed Tallahassee had taken it well—all appearances seemed that way, anyway. Things were so far from okay.

Since then, he's not gotten as much as a nod from Tallahassee. Sure, maybe a few well placed and rather frightening glares but nothing near their former (bare minimum) camaraderie. The change was blaringly obvious and the other two in their group caught on pretty quickly. Columbus suffered through the 'what did you fight about' and 'just apologize already, it's so awkward it hurts' but didn't really listen.

Why? He didn't actually want to figure out why, honestly. He was perfectly fine being ob-fucking-livious. Which was also what he hoped Wichita and Little Rock would stay, but from the look on Wichita's face it looked like she'd finally let on.

Tallahassee, like a golden angry axe-wielding angel from heaven, made his cockblocking appearance as always. "You ladies alright?" he asked, pointedly looking at the two girls. Wichita sent Columbus a scathing look.

Things were starting to get complicated.


	4. part 4

Not much discussion happens after that. This isn't just pertaining to Columbus' and Tallahassee's disagreement but literally, there is no talking at all. Mostly because they're scavenging the area for supplies, spread out amongst the hilly side of a massive mountain.

After finishing off most of the zombie cluster fuck they'd stumbled onto, Wichita had the brilliant idea to quickly book it out of there. They drove for fifty miles and to midday before finally stopping. Columbus wasn't sure, due to their lack of anything remotely resembling direction, but he thought they might be just a hundred miles east of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Another (formerly) populated city did shit for them. The small town they did stumble upon was completely deserted. Half the place looked like it was an unfortunate victim of some retard's flammable attempt at killing bodies. Columbus was only sure of this because he had stumbled upon the half-charred remains of a man with a shotgun and a very, very chagrined expression.

Other than that, he wasn't having luck finding much of anything. In fact, the desertion part of the town went so as far to cover that there was nothing in any of the buildings that they could use. There was no food, no bottled water, no ammunition, and no gasoline either. It seemed they weren't the first survivors to have passed through here (excluding Singed Chagrined).

Eventually, each of them slowly figured this out just as the sun dipped down behind one of the huge mountains that flanked them on all sides. Wichita was wearing an expression that expressed, quite frankly, how merely speaking to her would result in pain and suffering. Little Rock didn't look as thrilled either, sitting against the van with her elbows on her knees and head tipped back against the bumper. Columbus didn't even want to look in Tallahassee's direction. Self-preservation was running high in his veins today.

Instead, he dropped down into the dirt beside Little Rock. She glanced, sidelong out of the corner of her eye at him, before dismissively looking back up at the orangey-grey sky above. Columbus took the hint and turned his gaze heavenwards (a term used with extreme prejudice). The orange-grey wasn't a very attractive shade. He reflected briefly on better sunsets he had seen from the dismal view of his dorm bedroom and even, briefly, regretted not spending them in better locales. Like maybe on a beach, or even if in theme with their current surroundings, on a mountain.

"So what'd you do?" Little Rock's voice broke the silence like a crack. Columbus jumped and guiltily sent his gaze around in search for the other two. Wherever they'd gone, it appeared to be out of earshot, especially since when he leaned over to see under the van there was a decided lack of feet on the other side.

When he sat up, Little Rock was giving him a dry, critical look with little to no sympathy. "I just," Columbus started a little clumsily, "said the wrong thing at the wrong time." That was all it was, wasn't it? He was sure of it.

Little Rock didn't seem convinced, but she never really did. Hanging out with her was like hanging out with an old person but less enjoyable. Sure, she was only thirteen and sure, she'd previously had the desire to run away to a children's theme park for safety but still. The girl rarely smiled or even cracked a joke (one that wasn't barbed or dry as a bone). Once and a while, Tallahassee could get a startled laugh out of her and Wichita, of course, never had a problem at all.

Columbus, however, never has had any success. Little Rock was content to tolerate him and that was it. Never did his jokes get a reaction, never did his conversation get returned. It was frustrating but, he figured, the girl was a tight shell and didn't really want to open up. Which was understandable, from what he understood of her and Wichita's former life (and with that one gen psych class he took) the girl had major trust issues. He thought Wichita was bad but Little Rock had learned from more than just example but approval.

"Seriously, Columbus," Little Rock continued and, boy, she sure did sound serious. "What could you have done to make Tallahassee hate you?"

The question was a loaded one so he took a minute to consider it, wondering if blowing her off would win him any brownie points…probably not. Columbus sighed through his nose and let his head fall back against the van's grill with a clang. It only hurt a little and Little Rock seemed to appreciate the gesture. "Well," he began slowly, eyes meeting the sky with the sudden shock that it was dark now and the stars were everywhere. "He and I had an agreement and I kinda went against it." He glanced at her. She stared back. Nervously, he continued on, "I also handled it really badly, probably if I said something different or maybe delivered it better---"

"Did you guys have sex or something?"

Unlike her first question, and her second, this one was perceptive and showed just how much Little Rock saw more than they ever could. Columbus took a brief second from his panick to both appreciate the girl for this and hate her for it. 'Take deep, calming breaths,' he reminded himself, fingers curled tightly into the fabric of his jeans, 'this, too, will pass.'

"Or something," he finally managed to weakly croak. Shockingly, Little Rock's expression didn't turn angry or resentful; in fact she almost seemed relieved.

"I thought it might have been something worse," the girl admitted, her own sigh escaping. "But the symptoms between you are just like what happened between my sis and this guy we used to work with." She rolled her eyes, head dropping back against the grill but there was no bang because she was more controlled that Columbus could ever hope to be. "They weren't together like that when we first started but then something happened, they had sex I guess, and it changed everything."

"Sex does do that," Columbus said solemnly, as if experience. Little Rock's expression showed how much she bought that. "I mean, from what I understand," he clarified. "Also, yeah, kinda living it at the moment: and let me tell you, it sucks."

She snorted and a small smile quirked her lips. Columbus counted this as a victory and made a note for later: self-depreciating humor for the win. "Anyway," she continued with a slightly annoyed, no-nonsense tone (the girl hated segues and tangents with a passion). "The point is that they shouldn't have let it mess things up. I mean, sex is supposed to be good right?"

Columbus chuckled; indeed it was if his memory was correct. "You're right," he agreed.

"Also," Little Rock continued before he could say anymore, her expression getting even more annoyed. "You can leave my sister alone. You two are so far from a match. I can't believe she even kissed you. I've heard about people getting so lonely they'll result to anything but, really, this is taking it too far."

"Uh," he said and she huffed with a roll of her eyes. With that she heaved herself upward off the ground and dusted herself off.

"I'm going to go look at the stars with my sister," she informed him curtly before walking off to do just that. Columbus watched her go until it was too dark to really see her. The sudden crunch of footsteps startled him.

"You still up?" Tallahassee asked him. Columbus just gaped in shock up at the man. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, dipshit. Get in bed before I concuss your sorry ass." He was all too ready to comply.


	5. part 5

Morning comes with an air of disappointment that Columbus couldn't shake. He didn't even really remember falling asleep. Things got fuzzy after Tallahassee snapped at him and the next thing he remembered is being shoved into the back of the van, the door slamming shut behind him. Again: disappointment.

He tried to shake the feeling off, though, and it went away as fast as a bad rash: meaning, very slowly and taking a few layers of skin with it. When he stepped out into the chill morning air, everything was silent. It was one of those moments when the quiet is so deep and so thick that the absolute emptiness of the entire world really sinks in. He remembered how they're probably the last people left on the whole fucking planet that has a though process beyond 'eat and maim, rinse and repeat.'

Probably, if he were anybody else, this would depress him. Columbus had gotten over the depression long ago. It came with the inevitable news of his parent's undoubted demise and went with the friendship of two odd girls and gruff man. So in these moments of absolute and utter quiet, he appreciated what he has more than what he's got. Things like material objects hadn't really ever been important to him, but he liked to think back to a time on Earth when they were important. How special it'd been when he'd gotten his first Genesis or reached level 70 in WOW. Now, joy came in the form of a good can of beans or a full tank of gas. Were things simpler now than they were then? No, Columbus believed that before the zombies, life was way simpler. Even with the whole social relationship thing.

Thinking back on what he loss usually got his mind wondering about what the others lost, too. Wichita and Little Rock had already lost what they'd had (family, his mind substituted, because he honestly didn't know what really) before the outbreak. Both girls had been living this way years in advance. Columbus didn't think them particularly better for it. Tallahassee…well, he had lost the most out of any of them. Sure, Columbus had lost his parents but (sorry, mom and dad) but that amounted to shit and nothing against the loss of a kid.

It was weird thinking about it, but Tallahassee probably made a good father in his own weird way. Sometimes, Columbus could imagine it. The softer side of the man (he used this terminology lightly) did shine through occasionally when he spoke to Little Rock. He'd get an expression on his face that was hard to describe as he carefully taught the girl to properly replace a tire or some inconsequential thing. Columbus recognized the face from the night in Bill Maury's (rest his soul) mansion, the way Tallahassee looked at the pictures of his son.

"Columbus," Wichita's blunt, no-nonsense tone broke through his revere. Columbus had been idly pacing the perimeter of their van, feet quiet on the gravel. He hadn't even realized that Wichita wasn't in the vehicle.

She painted a pretty picture though, standing in front of him with her hip-half cocked to the side and her hair spilling over her shoulders in a half hearted braid. The morning gloom gave her features a softer look despite all the dirt collected on her knees and jeans. (Wichita liked to snipe, falling to her knees a lot to crouch behind something and shoot over it. Dirt always collected on her pants, much to her infinite annoyance.)

"Good morning," he attempted cheerfulness but it fell kind of flat do to the fact he didn't feel like smiling. All the deep thoughts he'd been having before she made her appearance were getting to him, seeping in to his skin like the dew that was softly cascading the world around them.

Wichita scoffed and shook her head, hands falling off her hips as she cleared the distance between them. "Why are you up, you're not on watch," it wasn't really a question, Wichita wasn't one to ask questions.

He shrugged, "Just woke up." She eyed him critically, looking for any cracks she could point out. Columbus was surprised she had to look so hard, every crack he had seemed blatant and fathomless this morning. Somehow, though, she found nothing and her eyes dropped away.

"I think we should still head north," Wichita said suddenly, pulling conversation from nowhere as she was wont to do. He appreciated this talent in her, most of the time. Other times, he wondered what it was she was making him say in her head. "Tallahassee thinks we can risk the high way up here but I'm not so sure."

Columbus made a noncommittal noise, following her gaze off into the mountains. There was a mountain goat high above on the ridge, watching them. Seeing it startled him for reasons he couldn't explain. "I don't know anything about Wyoming," he said, dragging his gaze away from the goat. "We need a map before we can really make any kind of a descision."

"That's exactly what Tallahassee said," she replied with a flip of her hair. The wind caught the motion and pulled it free of the braid. Her blue eyes narrowed. "Little Rock told me that you let her in on why you and Tallahassee are fighting."

"Oh?" he said slowly, eyebrows rising.

"She wouldn't tell me, though," was the snappish reply and the answer, pretty much, to everything about why Wichita was being so curt. The girl had that way about her but had opened up a lot more recently and shown she wasn't as much as a bitch as she'd like you to think. This recent relapse, of course, had to do with something totally unrelated to her. The irony was not lost on Columbus.

"Does it really bother you so much?" he asked carefully. Her dry look spoke wonders (so that's where Little Rock gets it from) and he grinned impishly. "I didn't tell her so much as she guessed the right thing. Smart girl."

Wichita's expression didn't improve at this revelation. "So I have to guess?"

He shrugged again. "If you want to," he said, not at all able to hide his amusement. "I'm not sure if it's worth you wasting your time on it."

"We'll see," she replied ominously but a small smile quirked her lips before she turned on her heel and walked away.

Tallahassee stood stock still against the massive pine tree. Everything was quiet and sedate in the forest that surrounded him, the only noise coming from the occasional bird as it took flight. Ten meters dead ahead was a massive buck, the graceful line of its long neck bent to the forest floor. Carefully, he exhaled slowly, shifting the grip on his rifle that much tighter before pulling back on the trigger.

The shot rang out almost like a sin, shattering the peace of the forest. Overhead a flock of birds swarmed from the branches in a panic, the noise of their wings echoing against the mountains. Little Rock appeared from around the other side of the tree trunk, still looking none too pleased.

"That deer is gonna feed us for the next three weeks, girl," Tallahassee reminds her as they make the trek to the corpse. "It's a good cause as any. Plus, way I see it, what with the fall of humanity n' all, the animal kingdom'll get its comeback."

Little Rock still looks sad when they reach the deer. She frowns at the still warm carcass and tentatively reaches out to brush her fingers over the massive antlers. "They're soft," she breathes quietly, marveling at the idea as she draws her hand back. A smile twitches at the corners of Tallahassee's mouth and he figures there's no harm in letting it, despite its honesty. Little Rock's big blue eyes catch it and she smiles back, but her expression has a knowing look to it he doesn't like.

"Alright, missy," he says, annoyed with the sudden silence. "We got to cut this sucker up now. Gonna take a few trips but we'll get it done." He gestures with his hand for her to put down the massive cooler she's carrying. "You can go back to camp if ya'd like." It wasn't much of a suggestion.

The girl didn't move very far, just walked over to the nearest tree to lean against it, watching with wide eyes as he pulled out his knife and got to work. Tallahassee didn't comment any further, just gave her a bemused look and began skinning the buck. For a while, longer than Tallahassee really knew, it was just the subtle but wet noise of his blade slicing through buck flesh. Little Rock was the first to broach any kind of conversation, just after Tallahassee had gotten all the ribs off.

"You and Columbus had sex," she broached carefully with all the subtlety of a Mack truck. His knife stumbled in the meat, cutting deeper and severing through the spinal cord and out the other side. He sat back on his haunches, leaving the knife in the meat, and gave her the most astonished expression he could manage. "He told me. Kind of."

"Excuse me?" he asked, voice a little high because he was still surprised. This wasn't helped any by the idea of Columbus discussing what had happened between them with a thirteen year old girl. "I'm sorry but, why are you bringing this up?"

"I want you two to stop fighting," Little Rock answered, biting her lip and ducking her head a little. It would have been endearing if she hadn't just brought up his sex life. "It's kind of awkward."

He pulled a face, standing up and bringing the knife with him. "Well, that's too damn bad because I couldn't give two fu—shits about what is awkward for you," he said as he cleaned off the knife then bent to slam the cooler shut. "Little Rock, I respect you a whole lot, girl, but this is not a matter you should involve yourself in."

She looked abashed, hands behind her back as her head drooped towards the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way," she sighed. Tallahassee scoffed and picked up the cooler, hefting it onto his shoulder.

"C'mon, we're bringing this back to camp and you're staying with it."


	6. part 6

Dirt, gravel and motor oil a tasteful combination did not make. Columbus groaned and spat out the disgusting dirt in his mouth. The gravel bit sharp into his hands as he wobbly pushed himself upward. Around him, the world went dangerously to the left and then to the right until a large, steadying hand pressed into his side.

"Whoa, there, boy-o," came the thick drawl to his side. The sound was just barely loud enough to not hurt his head. Columbus turned to the voice and saw the blurry, vaguely familiar shape of Tallahassee.

"Whuh—" He kind of manages. Tallahassee hooks his hands under Columbus' armpits and suddenly the world is surging upward. His feet flail under him to find purpose on the ground but it feels more like the ground is jolting away from under his toes. When he does get it, Tallahassee's hands are gone and his vision is starting to clear.

Over Tallahassee's shoulder, Wichita and Little Rock are visible both looking worried and weary. It has been a long time before any of them had had such a close run in with a zombie. Columbus could barely remember what happened it'd gone so fast. One minute he'd been walking back from the water pump they'd miraculously found and the next he was being bodily tackled from behind by a fucking zombie.

Whatever had happened after Columbus' head had been slammed repeatedly into the ground was lost to him. As he looked over his shoulder, the bleeding corpse of what looked like an old man was sprawled out and still twitching. "Barely escaped that one, kid," Tallahassee grumbles and doesn't even blink when Columbus takes the pistol out of his hand and shoots the zombie a second time in the head.


	7. part 7

His ribs still hurt when they make it to the center of Wyoming. For such a fucking big state there is practically nothing here but Tallahassee is excited about something. They finally found a map in a gas station that hadn't been crawling with the undead and Tallahassee only seemed to get more eager. It was interesting to see the man this way again, actually smiling more often, even if it wasn't in Columbus' direction.

Wichita spent a lot of the time quietly whispering her guesses in his ear at night. Even if every one of her assumptions are so wrong and far out there, Columbus is glad for the attention. He's sure Tallahassee noticed the sudden change and he often caught the man staring at them suspiciously. The idea that Tallahassee might be jealous gave Columbus a twisted, smug satisfaction.

Today they've reached a crossroads. All around them is forest and an almost literal fork in the road. Plans had been, very vaguely, to head north and keep heading north until all the zombies were popsicles. Except when they stop today, Tallahassee has a new route.

"Now, kids," he announced across the fire. Wichita looked up from the cans of beans she's been rotating by the fire, her eyebrow shot up on her forehead. Little Rock is a chilly bundle next to Columbus, shivering occasionally and burrowing deeper into the blanket wrapped tightly around her. She doesn't stir at the announcement, possibly already asleep. "I know we're headin' north but I've got a suggestion for a worthwhile detour."

"A detour to where exactly?" Wichita asked as she sat back and wrenched the oven mitt off her hand. "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"Not exactly," Tallahassee scoffed, as if offended. "We're near the greatest national park."

"Oh," Columbus said in realization but not with much enthusiasm, it earned him a glare from Tallahassee. He looked to Wichita. "Yellowstone."

"Ohhh," Wichita said with exaggeration and an overly shocked look. She chuckled at her own joke and looked back down at their dinner, sending Tallahassee an amused glance from under her eyebrows.

Tallahassee didn't appreciate either of their behavior, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "I wondered what the fuck was wrong with y'all," he grouched. Columbus shared an amused look with Wichita. "There ain't nothin' to lose by taking a quick trip through. After all, we went to yer amusement park."

"I'd like to go," Little Rock spoke up, her eyes shining from within the cocoon of her blanket. Wichita shrugged in silent assent and then Tallahassee's eyes turned onto Columbus. There was an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes, accusing Columbus.

"Sure," he finally said uncomfortably. Wichita hadn't missed this interaction and her eyes were narrowed, darting between them. She opened her mouth to comment when one of the cans exploded baked beans everywhere and instead only a noise of frustration came out.

The change in their route didn't really do much in regards to their plans. There was no schedule or time limit, and if things continued as they did, they could honestly risk staying Stateside a little longer. Getting there proved tackling a few more mountains. The van gave up the goat on the tenth mountain they'd subjected it to. Thankfully it was carefully timed by Tallahassee and the van broke down just outside a small town nestled in a valley.

This town was void of zombies. They searched high and low for any signs of life, undead or not, and found little beyond a few unfortunate house pets and rats. Finding this town was something of a godsend, though, because it had a brand new car, a huge old navy Suburban and enough supplies to survive them through a jaunt in Yellowstone.

On their first night there, Columbus wandered the streets. He trailed his fingers over abandoned car hoods and pressed his face against the dusty windows of storefronts. The thought of how he'd liked to have lived in a place like this took hold of him and choked him. It caused him to wander over to a bench and drop down heavily, elbows on his knees as he pressed his face into his hands.

The hand on his shoulder startled him and he reeled his head upward. Wichita is frowning at him, her dark eyes worried in an open expression Columbus rarely sees from her. "You alright?" she asked and her voice sounds too hushed. Maybe this town has gotten to her too.

"Yeah, I just," he started and then sat back with a heavy sigh. "I don't know this town is kind of like the one I grew up in and it's…" he paused, head tilting to the side as he searched for the right word. "Making me disgustingly nostalgic."

Her smile is small but somehow a relief to Columbus. She wrapped one hand around his, their fingers threading together and he reveled briefly in the natural feel of it. He thought he loved her once, and on this park bench in a town named Hope, he kind of does but not in the way he fooled himself before. Wichita is his sister now, he can see it in her eyes that she knows it too, that she is becoming the same strong force she is for Little Rock.

"I think," she begun loudly, her voice echoed amongst the empty street. He noticed then that it was getting dark and wondered how long he'd spent being so lost but her eyes caught his and all thoughts like that flee his mind. "That it's okay for you to feel a little nostalgic." Wichita leaned toward him, her forehead resting on his shoulder, her warmth spreading through him. "At least you're brave enough, too." This admission is quiet against the cotton of his shirt and he reached up to brush her hair behind her ear, turning to press a chaste kiss against her temple.

Eventually they walk back to the hotel they've camped out in. Out front is Tallahassee, who has the suspicious look again. There isn't any smug satisfaction this time and he stopped outside. Wichita sent him a curious look but he shrugged and waved her on. She frowned but didn't argue, disappearing into the darkened building. Columbus walked over to where Tallahassee stood and leant against the wall, staring blankly at the buildings across the street.

"We're just friends," he has to clarify. Tallahassee didn't seem to expect anything like this and turned toward him, his mouth set in a firm line. Columbus realized suddenly, with a gripping fear, how wrong that might sound. "Wichita and I," he hurriedly clarified.

He is admittedly shocked when Tallahassee's eyebrows slowly rise upward. "No shit, Sherlock," the man retorted and the particular way that 'Sherlock' comes out in that slow drawl made Columbus' insides crawl. Tallahassee shouldered his rifle and loped over where Columbus leaned against the wall. He came close, right into Columbus' personal space.

Columbus' heart gave a sudden thrill, speeding up fast enough and throbbed dully in the bruises that still decorated his back. "You take first watch," was all Tallahassee said before he moved away, hand briefly wrapping around Columbus' wrist before the touch was gone all too soon. In the past two weeks, the only touch he'd gotten in nearly a month, the sensation of it was enough to make his skin heat even more. He hoped, almost believed, that there was a promise in that touch.

Morning brought a startling surprise: a dog had somehow slipped into sleep with them during the night. It was some sort of an mix between German Sheppard and Collie, or at least that's what Little Rock insisted. Columbus was surprised by how much she had taken to the dog, never before having mentioned any inflection towards animal life they'd come across before.

But, Columbus had to admit, there was something heart wrenching in the soulful brown eyes as they stared up at you. The dog's name was Denver, an irony not lost on any of them, and he knew how to sit, shake, roll over and play dead. A dog didn't come at much use, though, in these times no matter how cute he was. Little Rock shockingly only encountered resistance from Wichita. Tallahassee liked the dog enough to think they could risk taking him along, Columbus felt neutral about it (much to Wichita's annoyance). Taking the dog wouldn't hurt them that much and if Tallahassee's enthused promises of buffalo steak had any merit, it wouldn't be that hard to feed the dog.

So, Denver accompanied them as they set off from Hope at toward Yellowstone. If Columbus let himself really reflect on it, the dog's presence did more than keep Little Rock happy, he also seemed to make everyone feel just a little bit better. On the second day they stopped at some sort of RV camp on the way to Yellowstone. They found four zombies almost comically stuck in one of the RV, took care of them, and then raided the other abandoned ones that remained. Pickings had been slim but the place provided a water well where RVs could connect their showers to and they took full advantage of this.

"Oh sweet Mary and Joseph," Wichita sighed as she stepped out of the RV, hair still freshly wet from the shower. She smelled of lavender and chamomile strong enough Columbus could smell it from a few feet away. He was not surprised by her near literal bathing in nothing but the flowerliest of the soaps they could find. "That was probably the best thing ever."

Tallahassee appeared, covered in oil and grease from where he had been manipulating what he could from the RVs engines and gas tanks. "My turn," he growled at Columbus who held up his hands in surrender, perfectly fine with being the last to shower.

Wichita took him by the hand and dragged him over to the picnic table area where Little Rock was busy washing Denver. They sat on one of the many tables, pushing aside the left remains of a rotten meal and watched. Columbus hadn't honestly seen the girl this happy before. She was chasing Denver around the bucket of water and laughing loudly, already soaked and muddy even though she had taken a shower. He knew they could afford to let her take another shower without much harm.

"She's always wanted a dog," Wichita sighed and leaned against Columbus' shoulder. He glanced at her but she wasn't looking at him, her eyes tracked Little Rock's every move. "We just never could afford to keep one and I don't see how things are any different now." Her voice isn't resentful or annoyed anymore but resigned.

He patted her thigh. "Things are different," he argued and her head swiveled toward him, eyes narrowed. "Really, I mean," he grinned at her slightly. "You're not the only one looking out for her anymore." Wichita eyed him speculatively for a second longer before she grinned in return, ducking her head.

"Yeah, I suppose so," she huffed and pushed off of him, her hands rubbing together before she dropped them between her thighs. "So, I don't have to ask about you saying something terrible to Tallahassee about his son, right?" Columbus balked at the idea and Wichita laughed without much mirth. "Okay, sorry. I've kind of only just realized you're actually an adult."

"I resent that," Columbus replied without much conviction. She rolled her eyes expressively at him and smacked him upside the shoulder. Wichita turned and started when she noticed Little Rock standing with a panting Denver beside her, watching them both with her wide blue eyes.

"I'm tired," the girl said and climbed onto the table to squeeze in between them, ignoring Wichita's indignant cries. Columbus laughed freely as Denver jumped up to join the mess. His heart gave a jump when broad arms wrapped around their shoulders and the fresh, clean scent of Tallahassee assaulted his senses as the man pressed against his side. They all laughed then, feeling adjunct and distant from the broken world outside the sanctuary of the forest around them.


	8. part 8

Columbus had been driving for four hours now. This isn't something unusual, on some days, he had driven for almost twelve hours straight. What's unusual is, as they approach Yellowstone, a bear lumbers into the road. A massive bear, with its fur matted with blood and that has a human leg sticking out from its massive jaws. He slammed on the breaks, the SUV's wheels screaming to a stop.

The heavy weight of a body connecting with his seat followed the sudden stop followed soon by a hand grabbing his shoulder tight. "Boy what're you—" Tallahassee growled as he pushed himself back from the seat but anything else he had to say died on his lips as he saw the bear too. The bear which now had also seen them and was seeming to have some debate on whether to abandon the single human leg in favor of eight more.

"Shit," Wichita breathed, her head appearing over the passenger seat headrest. She disappeared to hush Little Rock before reappearing with a rifle barrel peaking over the shoulder of the passenger seat. "We have to shoot it."

"We ain't gonna shoot no bear," Tallahassee snapped, his fingers digging into Columbus' shoulder painfully. "Trust me, the fucker's ain't easy to take down. We can't waste the ammo."

The bear had other things in mind, however, and dropped the leg to rear up on its haunches. "Uh, Tallahassee, the bear is eight feet tall—"

"I see that—"

"We have to shoot it!" Wichita insisted despite making no move to actually go about shooting the bear, which still stood twenty feet away staring them down. No one made in moves actually, the bear or the four of them. Columbus heard Little Rock make a small, almost weary noise from somewhere in the rear of the SUV. It was almost as if her sound had broken the stillness that had gripped them, setting everything into motion.

The bear began making its slow, loping way over to them, its brown fur cast an unearthly gold in the glare of the headlights. Columbus tightened his hands on the steering wheel and began to count. One one-hundred, the bear was twenty feet away, two one hundred, eighteen feet away, three one-hundred, just barely fifteen feet away—when he makes it to six one-hundreds he can feel Wichita shift and that is when he made a decision. Without any hesitation, Columbus stomped onto the gas pedal, causing the wheels to give a shriek against the asphalt as they peeled forward. He swerved, barely missing the bear, which reared back in surprise, and racing down the road.

A sigh of relief flooded through all of them. Tallahassee finally let go of Columbus' shoulder, his fingers lingering just a tick longer than was strictly necessary. "Good thinking," the man said.

"Goddamnit, fucking hell to shit," Tallahassee yelled, kicking over a trash can which happily proclaimed 'I keep Yellowstone clean!' and it landed with a loud clang. Wichita rolled her eyes and huffed, arms crossed and watching them all from where she stood above them on the cabin porch. "If you hadn't pulled that stunt with the fucking bear the SUV'd still have gas. Dumb little fucker!"

Columbus sighed. He told himself, with little success, that Tallahassee's anger wasn't really directed at him but the unfairness of the world. Denver barked somewhere in the distance, causing them all to turn and look. Little Rock walked patiently up the dirt path, a gas canister in each hand, and a grim expression on her face. Columbus held his breath anyway and when Little Rock walked up, set one empty and one half full on the picnic table, he exhaled out hope.

"It's enough to get us to the main camp," Wichita said as she trotted down the stairs. She had braided her hair this morning and Columbus rather liked the look on her until he dully thought it actually made her look her age. "We might be able to find another car or some gas there." Wichita glanced around at them looking for any signs of argument. Tallahassee just scoffed, turning sharply on his heel to head back to the van with the gas, his footfalls crunching in the gravel.

Wichita watched him go, gave Columbus a Look, then brushed past leaving him alone with Little Rock and Denver. "Well," he sighed again. Little Rock looked up at him, her head at an angle and a small smile quirking at her lips. "You would find this funny."

"I suppose," she replied enigmatically with almost a smug way about her, resting her hand on Denver's head as they walked off, too. He watched them go, to join the group at the SUV, and tried not to imagine himself without them.

Hope is a funny thing, really. It can leave you breathless or break your heart in a second. Columbus liked to think he had great experience with it. Knew the expectancy, the waiting, and the disappointment well. He was wrong, though, because there were some things he hadn't gotten from hope: gratification, triumph or--even as he back dug into the sharp bark—pleasure.

Tallahassee kissed just the same as he did two weeks ago. It was hard to think of it being that long because with the familiar hot mouth on his, it seemed to be just yesterday. But he knew that wasn't true. He had so much built up inside him, so much tension and anticipation that when Tallahassee did catch him by surprise in the forest outside camp, with a gleam in his eyes, it just exploded. Columbus had one brief moment to be embarrassed before Tallahassee's hands found their way under his shirt and that axon short-circuited with all the rest.

"Oh, fuck," Columbus breathed against the short hairs behind Tallahassee's ear, his tongue soon finding way to the smooth skin that formed the shell of his ear. "Why did we stop this?"

"Because you're a dumbfuck," Tallahassee said and he gripped Columbus' hips. "Besides, we never really started."

"I'm not that dumb," Columbus protested but it was just words. Tallahassee smirked, the angle of his lips sharp as daggers but Columbus leaned forward to lick them anyway. He opened his mouth to say more, do more but Tallahassee had stepped back. "What?"

"Not gonna risk Little Rock catchin' us," the man growled, clearly irritated at the very idea. "Still can't believe you told her and not to mention that shit you got goin' on with Wichita. Why don't you just fucking tell her out right?"

Columbus gaped for a second before shutting his mouth with a snap. "Sorry," he bit out, fingernails digging into the tree behind him. "I thought you didn't want them to know."

"No point in hiding it," Tallahassee said with a shake of his head. "I mean, for fuck's sake, we live with them every day. What good is it gonna do to keep secrets?"

Hope surged in Columbus' chest again and it hurt but it was good, too. "So, you're not…not gonna just," he struggled for the right words. It was hard to dance around Tallahassee and when he had first thought he'd had it figured out, so many nights ago, he had learned quite succinctly that he was very wrong. "Stop? We're like.."

Tallahassee seemed to pause, he leaned back to look at Columbus with his arms crossed. "Dumbfuck," he declared with narrowed eyes. Columbus could accept that because Tallahassee reached out and pushed his hand into Columbus' hair. "Later, we'll finish later." With that he gave Columbus a small quirk of his lips and walked off back to camp.


	9. part 9

He settled down into an easy crouch and looked over the valley below. It was rather gorgeous, all the tall towering pines making a sweeping green carpet that seemingly went on for miles only to be broken by the sudden surge upward of a mountain. Columbus had been here before, just as a child, and hadn't been able to appreciate it then. Really, he's unsure if he can appreciate it now but he was trying anyway.

Over his shoulder stood Tallahassee as he took in the same view more likely with the proper reverence in his expression and something like an almost smile forming on his face. Columbus couldn't appreciate Yellowstone but he could appreciate what it was doing for Tallahassee. It was a virtual paradise so far. They hadn't come across a single zombie yet and all the wildlife seemed to be untouched by the death lurking just outside. No more bears had come to challenge them again, anyway.

The girls were enjoying it in their own way, as they had found cabins with wells and a water pump system that guaranteed showers for as long as they were there. Columbus was beginning to think they were getting spoiled, two showers within a week's time of each other was a little much. He had to laugh, quietly under his breath, at that idea. How far they had come where when more than one shower in a month was a rarity and came with luck that couldn't be trusted. He vaguely remembered the time when taking a shower a day was a rule and not a pipe dream. It showed in the girls, too, who had taken only one shower in the four days they'd been in Yellowstone. Too much of a good thing.

"What's so funny?" Tallahassee asked as he sat down, cross-legged, in the dirt beside Columbus. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees making his posture ridiculous and squinted at Columbus.

"Didn't I tell you?" Columbus asked loftily, unconsciously sitting up straighter in a vain attempt to remind Tallahassee of his poor posture—it didn't work. "I am amongst the exalted few who find panoramic landscape views of untold beauty outrageously funny."

Tallahassee sat back at that, giving Columbus one of his exasperated looks that usually had more effect when he was chewing on something, and said "Boy, there were too many goddamn words in that sentence."

Columbus laughed again, much to Tallahassee's obvious surprise, and dropped down out of his crouch onto the ground. He found himself so unaware of their dynamic just then—not acutely focusing on their relationship (we had sex, we HAD SEX) as he had always been before but content to just be with Tallahassee. He sat back to, losing all pretense of posture, and just grinned at the other man. "Sorry," he said mostly just to say something.

"Hm," Tallahassee grunted noncommittally still giving Columbus that narrowed look of fond exasperation. "When about do you think we should get outta here?"

"Yellowstone? I don't know," he answered with a shrug of one shoulder, casting his gaze back to the picturesque valley. "Seems to be pretty good so far—"

"We're getting' goddamned spoilt—"

"But maybe too good, to be fair," Columbus continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Maybe sometime tomorrow, about midday. We might be able to reach about halfway through Montana by midnight if we move fast enough."

Tallahassee nodded before standing abruptly. "Sounds about right," he said before grabbing a handful of Columbus' hair and giving it a good yank, grinning at the resulting yelp he got from the younger man. "You n' me have some unfinished business." Columbus' heart gave a sudden jump just as he scrambled up onto his feet. Tallahassee's hand didn't leave his hair and lingered, tangled in the unruly curls as they stared each other down. "Eager are we?"

"Can't say that I'm not," Columbus countered, "can't say that you're not either. Right?" He couldn't help the uncertainty that fledged the question. Tallahassee stared for a beat longer before grinning again and giving another yank, though it had much less force behind it.

"True, true," Tallahassee replied as he let go of Columbus' hair and turned on his heel. "There's a cabin about a half mile down that I think will serve our purpose." He turned another lewd grin to Columbus, reaching down and grabbing a Columbus' ass with a squeeze. "Don't know—"

Before the words had really even finished coming out of Tallahassee's mouth, Columbus had slipped his fingers into his back pocket, yanked out his wallet and produced a condom all in one breath. Tallahassee stopped midstep and midsentence, to stare at him in surprise. Columbus' stomach did a flip at the idea of having caught the other man off guard twice in one day, let alone within ten minutes.

"Real eager," Columbus clarified.

"Little Rock?" Wichita called from where she stood on the cabin porch, hands on her hips and a frown tugging at her lips faintly. "Little Rock!" She looked around the circumference of the small encampment and then out, through the forest around it. Just as she had opened her mouth to yell once again, a familiar bark stopped her along with the sound of small running feet.

Little Rock appeared from the east, a bouquet of wild flowers in one hand and a dead rabbit in the other. Wichita sighed heavily; Tallahassee was really influencing the girl too much of late. Thirteen was a critical time in a young girl's development and it seemed that the old hick was going to assimilate himself in Little Rock for the rest of her life. A fate truly worse than death.

"What's the matter?" Little Rock asked, only slightly out of breath. She had to have been at the massive field next to the river they'd found just yesterday that was a mile and a half away. Wichita was surprised her little sister had heard her.

"Do you know where Tallahassee and Columbus have gone off to?" Wichita asked with a fully formed frown now, begot from thoughts of adolescent girls and their inappropriate role models. It deepened when Little Rock's expression did a funny display of surprised to embarrassed to amused.

"I have no idea," Little Rock answered with the authority of someone who had just the right idea and was by no means letting anyone in on it. "I saw them head up that north mountain a while back but haven't seen them since."

Wichita sighed again and, not for the first time, regretted that they hadn't invested in trying to find some sort of walkie talkies at their last stop. Being in a giant, albeit empty, forest without any means of communication was starting to grate on her nerves. "Did they say when they'd be back?" Little Rock shook her head solemnly.

"Denver caught a rabbit, though!" the preteen exclaimed and held up the prize with a smile. "I didn't see it happen but he brought it up to me on the way back." As if hearing the mention of his name, there was a distant bark and the dog appeared just behind one of the trees to their left, tail wagging. "I figured Tallahassee could make some dinner from it. Stew, I think?"

She walked over to the porch and sat the rabbit on the step. Wichita watched her before jumping down off the old wooden structure and straight into walking towards their SUV. "I sure wish they'd have said where'd the be," she muttered under her breath, opening the rear cabin and shuffling through the items there. She pulled out a pistol, just in case, and grabbed the barely working loud speaker Tallahassee had been using to scare zombies out of hiding as of late. "I'm gonna go look for them—"

"No!" Little Rock exclaimed, looking embarrassed again. "I'm sure they're fine, can't you leave them alone?"

Wichita stared, dumbfounded, at her sister. "What the fuck for?"

"No reason just, I mean, they're probably having guy bonding time," Little Rock hurried to explain, eyes still a little too wide. "Like wrestling bears and eating pine cones. I don't know, just why bother them?"

Wichita continued to stare. "Wrestling bears," she repeated and Little Rock nodded. "Eating pine cones?" Another nod. She laughed, it was really ridiculous and Little Rock scowled slightly, obviously not intending to have been funny about it. "I don't think so. I have a bad feeling."

Little Rock's expression cleared then. "Bad feeling?" her tone was worried.

"Yeah, I don't know," Wichita said, frowning again. "Seems a little too good we've been able to enjoy this place zombie free, yanno? There's no way we haven't been noticed yet. I don't care how far into buttfuck we are, they're persistent. Being split up like this…I don't like it."

"Well—" Little Rock was frowning now herself, seeming torn between her sister's logic and protecting whatever it was she was protecting for Tallahassee and Columbus. "You're right but—"

"I'm going," Wichita told her in a tone that broached no argument. "You're coming with me. So's Denver. C'mon boy!"

Tallahassee really liked slamming him up against things Columbus dazedly thought as they frantically kissed against the wall he had just been shoved against. Finding the cabin hadn't been too hard. He had been surprised when Tallahassee seemed fine to spend the entire way just continuing their earlier conversation about leaving tomorrow. He should have known it was just Tallahassee lulling him into a false sense of security before literally jumping him the minute they'd entered the cabin.

No complaints were heard from Columbus on the matter, even though his head kind of had banged a little hard against the door at first. Didn't matter now, he was nearly naked and Tallahassee didn't have a shirt on anymore. Columbus was so hard he could barely think and rutting against the thigh thrust between his legs like a horny teenager—which, admittedly, he still kind of was.

"Fuck, kid," Tallahassee breathed into his ear as he grabbed Columbus by his ass and lifted him upwards. Columbus yelped and barely had enough thought process to wrap his legs around Tallahassee's waist as he was carried to bed. They tumbled together in a graceless heap, somehow managing not to bodily harm each other in the process, and immediately resumed kissing. "Only one condom?"

Columbus groaned loudly at that. At the very idea that question broached both from loss (yes, he did only have one condom) and relief (he wasn't entirely sure he was up to more than once, barely felt he'd even last long enough for once). Tallahassee chuckled as he drew away to hover over the younger man beneath him, the glint of his teeth barely visible in the dim gloom of the cabin bedroom. He dragged his hands, the size of them always surprised Columbus no matter what, down Columbus' sides. Over his ribs and down to his hips where his thumbs briefly hooked in the slight curve of the bone there before up and across the thighs which were still wrapped around his waist.

"Gonna need you to move if we're gonna get any farther," Tallahassee said in a voice that sounded rougher than Columbus had ever heard. A shiver went through him at the idea that he was doing this, bringing the other man to such a state.

Carefully he moved his legs away to sit his feet flat on the bed, knees on either side of Tallahassee's waist. This seemed to suit Tallahassee's purpose because he bent back down to kiss Columbus. Before the kiss could really be enjoyed, Tallahassee was gone again drawing away to smirk at Columbus. He reached down, thumbs hooking under the waist band of Columbus' boxers when they both heard it. Columbus' breath drew in sharp and he froze, listening hard.

It was distant, maybe a few hundred feet away or so, but it was still distinct against the silence that prevailed most of Yellowstone. He met Tallahassee's eyes in the dark and said, "That's Wichita."

"You sure? You can hear that—" Tallahassee paused to listen himself before letting out an annoyed growl and climbing off both Columbus and the bed. "Find your clothes. Something must be wrong if she's come all this way to find us." Columbus sat up and sighed, frowning and looking forlorn down at his slowly fledging erection. "Next time, kid, our ladies need us."

Columbus made a face at that—because, whoa, wrong context in this time and place—but got moving anyway.

"Columbus," Wichita called for what must have been the hundredth time through the hand held loud speaker. The sound of it echoed for two beats, scattering amongst the mountains. She frowned, looked around and lifted it to her mouth again.

"Wichita!" came the familiar cry from just down the mountain and the woman huffed, dropping the heavy microphone onto her shoulder to peer down the slope. She couldn't see them yet but if she listened hard enough she could definitely hear them coming. Wichita turned to where her sister only to find the space unoccupied.

Great, now she was missing, too. She took a step and then another, looking around. "Little Rock," she hissed and waved the loud speaker around for emphasis. This was no time for messing around. "Where did you go?"

Her sister appeared just up the rise, looking grave as she trotted down the pine-leave covered path. "Denver started acting weird," Little Rock explained as she was within appropriate speaking distance. "So I used my scope to look towards where we came in. You were right, they found us."


	10. part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ummm noticed this didn't have all the chapters I've written for it posted, but it still remains unfinished. i dont know if i will ever return to finish it. I actually finished it but i lost the chapters like five years ago lmfao. enjoy!

Getting to the fire tower on foot took them an hour and a half. By that time they could hear the distant sound of an approaching hoard of zombies. At one time, Columbus was sure the sound would have caused him to lose control not only of his bowels but anything like rationale. He would have run for the hills, tail between his shit-covered ass and not thought twice about it. But today he was a different person.

A person who took one look at the old, rickety fire tower and intended to climb to the top of it. A person who had a woman beside his side whom he loved, though not in the way he would have ever of imagined, and felt the need to fiercely protect her more than himself. It was exhilarating and terrifying and magnificent. It made him want to cry.

"Are you crying?" Wichita asked as soon as she slowed to a stop beside him. Her eyes narrowed on his face as Columbus hastily shook his head. "Sure, well. We're going to need to climb this thing."

"I noticed," he remarked with the air of one who's dignity had not only been threatened but shot and left to die. She smirked at him. He pointed at the ladder. She rolled her eyes. "What? Ladders are perfectly respectable ways to climb up towers."

"That wasn't it at all," she sighed but didn't clarify and instead began climbing the ladder. "Do you have a plan beyond just shooting zombies until we run out of ammo?"

"Yes!" he called up to her. Well, it was to her but with his view it felt mostly like it was to her ass. "There are some nice propane tanks we can shoot."

"Finally you're making sense."

Getting to the top of the tower took them a good twenty minutes and when they did reach the top, out of breath and a little sore, they were twenty stories in the air. Vertigo attacked Columbus' stomach with a vengeance and he gagged. The landscape around them did a dizzying merry-go-round spin of green trees and too blue sky before he could focus again. Wichita was giving him a worried look.

"I'm good," he coughed and waved her off. She shrugged, which suited him just fine, and picked up her rifle. "I think I see them already."

He stared out into the landscape in front of them. There was luckily enough clearings for them to pick off a good majority of the zombies before they had to resort to any measures like blowing up propane tanks. Most of the zombies were milling around anyway, lost without any clue as to where their prey may be hiding in the vast forests of Yellowstone. Columbus believed the zombies hadn't thought their whole plan through very well.

And with that ridiculous thought in mind, he actually knew they'd be able to make it through this alive.

Four hours, twelve protein bars and six bottles of water later it was about time for them to enlist the aid of propane tanks. "We'll take out a good chunk of what is left," Columbus said, pointing at the furthest of the two massive propane tanks (this one attached to one of the larger forest ranger buildings). "And then pick off whatever's left in the morning." Wichita seemed to consider this, eyes darting back from the clumps of remaining zombies to the propane tank.

"What about this one?" She asked, gesturing to the nearest one with the barrel of her rifle. Columbus didn't trust that one as much, fearing the fire would spread too close to them and hinder their escape.

"Worst case scenario," he answered and she nodded. "Let's do this?" He got another nod. "Alright, I'll distract them, you take the propane tank."

Columbus shifted up onto his knees setting his rifle back into place and slotting his shoulder against the butt of the rifle. The feeling of it was so natural now, it was almost second nature. He leaned into the sight and eyed the ranger building. Vaguely, in his mind, he heard Smoky the Bear berate him for the inevitable forest fire he was about to inspire. Columbus flipped Smoky the finger and pulled the trigger. He missed on the first shot but got the windows easily from there on out. The zombies began to crowd around the house at the commotion, before their nasty heads swiveled their way.

"Now-!"

"Yeah, yeah I fucking see them-," Wichita snapped and whatever else she added to her sentence was lost in the crack of her rifle. The propane tank exploded in a smoldering blaze that took out sixty zombies and fourteen pine trees. Columbus considered it a bullet well wasted.

He sat back on his heels grinned at Wichita. She turned around and slid down the wall with long suffering sigh the belied her own face splitting grin.

"Us: 53, Zombies: 10," Columbus announced and she laughed, head thunking back against the old wood of the tower. Her grin faded, though.

"I figured it out, you know," Wichita said with a sigh. He looked up to find her picking at a tear in her jeans face almost contrite, confusion marring his brow. It took him a moment but when the realization finally hit he sucked in a sudden, stuttery breath. She smiled and it was almost sad and it made Columbus' heart ache. "I kind of knew it all along but...I don't know, the stupid part of me thought maybe we still had a," she took a deep breath and let the word out harsh, "chance."

Columbus wasn't sure what to say mostly because there was a million things crowding forward in his head at once that all needed to be spoken. At the same time he knew that Wichita knew all these things in some degree and that some of them hurt her just as much as they hurt him. His silence, though, was just as unwelcome and she meets his eyes with a colour blue ready to burst ablaze with fiery anger.

Instead of saying anything he pitched forward off his heels and onto his knees, feeling the soft aging wood giving slightly under the twin pressure points. When their lips met, it was soft and chapped and she tasted earthy and real-nothing like Tallahassee. The break is mutual, accompanied with matching sighs that turn into muffled laughter. Wichita's eyes burn despite his efforts, but at least it's with mirth.

"Okay, so it is like kissing the brother I never had," she admitted with an exaggerated eye roll that forced another chuckle from Columbus. "So if you're my 'brother.'" she made a face, "then what does that make Tallahassee?"

"The uncle?"

Her expression turned into one of obvious disgust. "Are you kidding me?"  
He blinked. "What?"

"He's our uncle?" she leveled him with a cutting look.

Columbus pulled his own face and shrugged. "Not like our actual uncle but that weird guy who always hangs around enough to call uncle." Her expression does not get any more agreeable but in fact turns even more sardonic.

"That's disgusting-"

"Is it because we're-"

"No, god no," she huffed with a halfhearted scowl. "It's just weird you'd even consider fucking someone you'd call uncle."

Columbus laughed, startled and relieved. He had imagined this conversation so many times before and never once did they have an outcome like this. Never had they been so awkward either but it was necessary, somehow, this awkwardness. He knew in a weird backward way that the awkwardness they had to suffer now would turn into, later, something mutual and comfortable.

"Okay, then he's just my-" the word boyfriend stuck on the tip of his tongue and Wichita's eyebrows went up high on her forehead. He found himself unable to finish that sentence, the whole ideal seeming so contrite to him.

"I understand," she said, her hand warm on his thigh. "It's not...exactly the same anymore."

He nodded his head and couldn't help the shrug, something that so long ago had been a constant defense mechanism. Twilight had come and the sun began to set in the distance. He wondered if Tallahassee and Little Rock had actually made it away safely. He considered whether praying it were true would help. Columbus dismissed the idea immediately because if they hadn't already, praying now was too late anyway. He startled at the sharp snap of fingers in front of his nose.

"Hey, space-case," Wichita drawled dry and so completely normal it made relief flood cool through Columbus' veins. "It's getting dark and I am cold so come over here and share you skinny ass body heat."

It was going to be a long night.


	11. part 11

"Shit," Columbus breathed into the chill morning hair, watching almost resentfully as his breath vanished. Below him, Yellowstone national park sprawled outward in the same exact view he'd watched carefully for zombies. It was blissfully empty now, except for the dim, hazy fog that hovered over the top of the forest.

It was, in all regards, a beautiful morning. Columbus was disgusted with it.

"Whelp," Wichita said, her head suddenly appearing just over the edge of the platform and smirking up at him as he jumped a foot in the air and nearly toppled backwards. "I see you've finally caught up with what should've been obvious."

He made a nondescript noise that could have either of been agreement or an insult. Wichita gracefully took the former option but not without a sound, quick punch to Columbus' shoulder. "Basically, your plan was decent enough in that it solved immediate concerns," she continued on. This was a side of Wichita rarely seen and greatly hated. She lectured. Lectured like she wasn't the one who typically made plans that—"didn't really think far enough into the future—"

"Yes, I get it," Columbus snapped and threw his arms up. Usually his plans were more long term and covered all the bases, when he was on his own he'd have nearly every minute of every day obsessively planned before he even left shelter. "Did you find us a ride or not?"

She leveled him with a droll look, an eyebrow arching smoothly upward. Columbus often found himself envying Wichita for her eyebrows, less for the way that they seemed to convey utter abhorrence with a simple twitch and more that they seemed to grow in perfect, neat half-circles naturally.

"I did, actually," she huffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder, hands placing themselves firmly on her hips.

"But?"

Wichita blinked. "But what?"

"I heard a but coming." He made a vague gesture somewhere at her boobs.

She stared at him blankly. "There aren't any buts."

An awkward moment descended upon them and Columbus immediately hated himself for inspiring it. He grew to regret it even more as he watched Wichita's face go from 'amused at the social awkward penguin' to something that was a mixture between curious and determined. He didn't like it, not directed at him at least.

As her mouth opened, he immediately held up his hand. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to know." He made sure to say each word with as much emphasis and weight as he possibly could. It didn't work.

"I was just going to ask if you and Tallahassee had ever…" she lets the sentence trail off, her white teeth biting into her bottom lip. Wichita implied the hesitation to say whatever she meant, whether it be 'buttsex' or 'anal' or the more acute, 'let him put it in you.' (Which implied that Columbus is automatically the obvious one to be on the receiving end. And while, sure, he knew it was true but he still disillusioned himself towards denial in that they hadn't ever gotten that far to tell yet.) Despite her coy, cute dancing around the subject ways, Columbus knew full well Wichita was capable of throwing out such crude euphemisms without a second thought.

He looked at her, really looked at her. Long enough she started to actually look less confident about her clever way of trying to embarrass him that clearly wasn't working. And then, he struck.

"Are so desperate to get some that you have to live vicariously through me?"

Wichita's mouth opened again, in a shocked 'o,' and her eyes were wide enough to match. Columbus felt proud of himself.

"So he has fucked you," she said finally, breathy and quiet and crushing the pride Columbus felt quite neatly under her fluttering ashes and licked lips.

Okay, Columbus thought wearily, not entirely like my sister. He scowled, finally making his face muscles work, but it was too late and the seed of untruth had woven itself firmly into Wichita's reality. She was smirking again and her eyebrow was perfectly arched and just being all around insufferable. As Wichita disappeared down the ladder again, Columbus looked over his shoulder to catch the ass end of the sunrise. He reflected, in that brief minute, that the dusky pink of the sky that lined the distant horizon was just the same colour as Tallahassee's nipples and that perhaps not thinking far enough ahead in his plans for transportation wasn't the only fatal flaw in his plan.

A rock hit his knee and he turned around, looking down over at the girl nearly fifty feet below who was smiling and beautiful and a pain in his ass. Things were starting to look awry.


	12. Chapter 12

The getaway is far from quick and easy. Some of the approaching zombies were quicker than the others, less decayed and possibly fresh. Or maybe just full of more processed cheese, Tallahassee didn't know nor give a flying fuck. He merely picked up the nearest weapon—an axe he'd left stuck half in a tree from cutting wood just that morning—and introduced it to the closest zombie's remaining brain matter.

She went down with a grizzly crunch and he took a small pleasure in wrenching the blade from her skull. Reclaiming the axe took, however, more time than he had as a new zombie bore down on him as he tried to pull it free. Tallahassee had barely a second to meet the dead stare of the undead before the creature fell, a red arc of blood gushing from one side as the bullet made its exit.

"You're welcome!" Little Rock yelled from her higher perch, rifle sight still attached to her eye as she tracked the rambling run of an approaching zombie.

Tallahassee spared the energy to roll his eyes before letting in on the nearest zombie. This man was wearing some sort of suit and Tallahassee found himself wondering, vaguely back in the quieter part of his mind, just where around Yellowstone this guy had found a career that needed him to be wearing a tie. This idea lead him to think of Columbus and the kid's penchant for making up ridiculously cliché assumptions about the former lives of the zombies they killed.

He himself had done something similar when the outbreak had first started and Tallahassee had newly discovered his talent in the art of zombie killing. Instead of romantic paperback novel trash, he imagined them as people in his former life who had wronged him. His ex-wife, that asshole neighbor who stole his lawn mower, that bitch in high school who had dumped him, the bastard who keyed his car at work, the zombie who had killed Buddy-the zombie who'd killed Buddy-the zombie who'd killed Buddy.

But then, they'd all become that one zombie. The zombie who had taken everything from him. Not just his job, or his house, or his convoluted sense of a 'life' but his child.

From there it had been a vicious circle. A terrible mantra in his head, repeating into infinity, which grew only louder and stronger with each zombie he killed. If this was one of those romance paperbacks Columbus always quoted, Tallahassee would say that it was because of that man-child that he had finally gotten past this grueling obsession.

If this was one of those romance paperbacks, they would have already of had sex by now. But it wasn't and never was going to be. Tallahassee hadn't ever gotten past it, just learned to quiet it. To let himself be distracted from it. First by Columbus and then, later, by Wichita and Little Rock. It was constantly present when he killed a zombie. Whispering and reminding him, always, without fail.

_Kill it, kill it, kill it. Don't let this one get away, too._


	13. Chapter 13

Columbus sucked in big gasps of air as if he couldn't get enough of it but what he really couldn't get enough of was Tallahassee's mouth. His mouth which was hot around Columbus' dick, along with his tongue and—jesus fucking Christ—Tallahassee's teeth. Columbus' hips jerked and stuttered in the tight grip of Tallahassee's hands that gripped him hard enough to bruise, to make Columbus' bones feel like they were cracking under the pressure of his _want_ and _need._

Tallahassee pulled his head back and with an obscene pop, Columbus' cock slipped from his lips shiny and slick with spit in the dim light. "So eager," Tallahassee said in that quite-not-right voice that made Columbus' toes curl. "What am I going to do with you?"

The words 'fuck me' were just on the tip of his tongue but Tallahassee was surging forward, lips meeting his with a bruising force that stung his already split lip, and taking the breath from him. Columbus groaned at the taste of himself on Tallahassee's tongue, hot and heady and heavy. He felt that hard grip on his hips tighten and then, suddenly, lift him upwards bringing their hips flesh and their—oh. He gasped Tallahassee broke the kiss and he found himself unbalanced, falling backwards to crash hard onto the mattress.

"We finally get to fuck," Tallahassee grinned, teeth looking especially sharp and white. He reached forward, hand coming to rest on Columbus' chest, holding him down. "Don't forget to scream, kid." Tallahassee's hips shifted and-Columbus blinked awake, shivering and cold and tipped over onto the ground.

He coughed, pulling himself up and out of the twist of camp-chair and sleeping bag. Blurrily he saw the crouched form of Wichita, her back facing him, and as he continued to squirm free a startlingly wet-cooling sensation made itself apparent in his pants. Columbus immediately stopped trying to free himself, face flushing hot as he attempted instead trying to hide this embarrassing development.

Wichita must have heard him squirming around because her head turned to look at him over her shoulder. She smirked, wide and rakish, "I thought falling over on your head would have woken your sorry ass up but," she stood, dusting her hands off on her jeans, "you just kept on dreaming." Columbus felt his face burn hotter and Wichita tipped her head back, laughing.

"Fuck you," he grumbled as he freed himself from his cocooned confines with the loud rip of a zipper. He stood shakily onto his feet, kicking off the remaining blankets and stumbled over to piss behind a tree. Sadly he stared at his ruined underwear and, somehow, forlorn dick. It was the first orgasm he'd had since that first time with Tallahassee and, while admittedly lonely, still an accomplishment. This was all ruined by the simple fact he couldn't even _remember_ the orgasm part of the orgasm or his dream-idea of what getting fucked would be like.

He sighed, tucked himself back into his still damp trousers and made a face at his hands. Washing his hands was going to be an interesting thing to figure out. Somewhere behind Columbus, Wichita was still laughing.


	14. part 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter i have left saved. thanks for reading!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter i have left saved. thanks for reading!

Tallahassee had come to hate the rest of Wyoming since they'd left Yellowstone.

A cold-front had rolled in early that afternoon and had chilled the forested landscape in a hazy, brittle fog. The fog wasn't thick as much as persistent. Hovering just in the distance amongst the towering pines, just in the corner of his eye an ephemeral presence that followed him everywhere. "Looks like ghosts," Little Rock had remarked with reverence her pale face tucked against Denver's dark fur.

As much as he hated that sort of thing, Tallahassee found himself hard-put not to agree with her. It was creepy and made him feel like he was driving through some reject horror flick just waiting for the slow-walking serial-killer to appear ominously on the horizon. Instead there was nothing. No animals, no houses, no serial-killers and most of all, no zombies.

So, dreaded anticipation hovered along with the fog. Tallahassee knew that Wyoming's population this far out was in the lower decimals but knowing that didn't stop him from tensing at the sight of every particularly thick patch of fog or at the crest of every hill. By the time night had come, he was feeling so heavy from the day that all he wanted to do was pass out until morning.

It was times like these that he sincerely missed Columbus. Sure, the kid had misconstrued ideas about damn near everything but at least he distracted Tallahassee when he needed it most. Right now was definitely one of those times when he needed it most. And it wasn't because of anticipation, fog, or Wyoming. It was Little Rock.

As soon as the fire had finally picked up, seeming as drained by the grey monotone of their surroundings as Little Rock and Tallahassee were, the two sat down side by side to stare at it. They had just partaken in a meal of canned tuna fish and almost-stale crackers and Tallahassee was starting to feel himself relax.

"Do you know what day it is?" Little Rock had asked. Tallahassee would have jumped from the suddenness of it if he hadn't, at the moment before, turned to look at her. He had been planning on asking her if she was warm enough or some equally inane thing that had died on his tongue at her words.

"Uh, no," he answered and searched her face for some sort of answer to as what exactly was going on her.

Little Rock remained as impassive as ever, meeting his gaze back steadily as she immediately said, "It's Thursday and today is the fifteenth of September."

He stared at her. Honestly, Tallahassee was at a loss. Completely bemused as to why she was telling him this and why she even knew. There were a few ways that he could direct this conversation. He could blow her off, act as dumb as he felt, or—he swallowed, not sure whether the third option was something he should be discussing her.

Something told him if there was ever a time to start being chicken-shit, this was not the time. Tallahassee took a deep breath, let it noisily out through his nose and gave Little Rock a hard look. She blinked, alarmed, and almost seemed to minutely hunch into herself.

"Little Rock," he said quietly. "Why are you keeping track of the days?"

Tallahassee hated himself for it but, far too frequently, he forgot that Little Rock was just a thirteen year old girl. A very well adjusted thirteen year-old girl who was frighteningly perceptive and sharp-witted. He knew to some extent it was a defense against both the world she was doomed to grow old (or not) in and equally a defense against the ten-year-plus her senior crowd she was stuck with. Again, knowing and acknowledging were two very different things.

Her answer was feeble, as her pale gaze flitted away. "I shouldn't, I guess," she answered to the fire. "I know it's stupid and hopeless but…I mean," she swallowed and her gaze dropped to the dirt. "What if someday civilization does right itself? Then who…if we're all okay with forgetting then how will we properly rebuild?"

As Little Rock's explanation had continued on, her voice gradually gained in momentum and volume before she was talking loud enough that Denver twitched in his sleep, ears flicking in their direction. Tallahassee watched her all the while, watched as her gaze roamed away from him and then, gradually, back to meet his own eyes. He wondered what she must think he would say and if he should be offended by it.

Instead of that, though, he asked: "How are you keeping track?"

She blinked again, thrown for a loop, before standing abruptly and walking to the truck. As she rustled around inside the cab, Tallahassee turned to look at Denver who had woken up at the sound of the car door. He worried, briefly, if the dog was suffering from the cold at all before the thought was banished from his mind when Little Rock returned to his side.

"This," she said eagerly, feet tucked under her and a small book sitting on her knees. Tallahassee paid it a passing glance as he moved to grab the blanket crumpled behind her, pulling it around Little Rock's shoulders. The girl paused and looked up with a grateful smile. He proceeded to ignore the warmth that smile brought him as he made an impatient gesture for her to continue.

The spine of the book creaked as she opened it, already obviously cracked from much use. The page she turned to, however, wasn't even near half-way through yet. On the pages were neat rows of careful handwriting spelling out each day and the year. Little Rock smiled at it and turned back two pages, small finger pointing to a date. "That was Wichita's birthday," she said with a grin. "Remember?"

Tallahassee remembered considering they had gotten obscenely plastered and Columbus had thrown up in the back seat of the car they'd had at the time not once but three goddamn times. Wichita had looked happy and Little Rock had been positively glowing so it had almost been worth having to find a new car in the morning with a hangover. Especially since Tallahassee had tried to run down Columbus for six blocks in the new car. Good times.

"Uh," he said with little to no eloquence. Honestly, he wasn't even sure why Little Rock was sharing this with him, let alone what she expected in response. Whatever it was he seemed to be doing it right because the teenager was rolling her eyes fondly and tucking the book away again. "Thanks for showin' me—I, well, I'm actually kinda glad you are keeping track."

This earns him a surprised look—a rare expression on Little Rock. "Oh," she said softly and then proceeded to give him a tight hug. Tallahassee couldn't ignore the gooey-caramel center now considering how uncomfortably warm it had become. "Thank you, Tallahassee."

Little Rock stood then and gave him one last smile, just on the side of embarrassed and delighted. He returned it as best as he could. Once she had tucked herself into her sleeping bag and Denver had joined her side, Tallahassee made sure to throw his spare blanket over her small form. Tomorrow they'd make it to the border and, hopefully, to the missing two of their unlikely quartet. For once, he didn't mind the prospect of the oncoming foggy morning.

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a PWP between Tallahassee and Columbus that I wrote for my wife but then turned into so much more. First two chapters are the original just PWP and from then on I took it in a new direction.


End file.
